Today in the history of the American comic strip: December 6

American cartoonists and writers may not have invented the comic strip, but some argue that the comics, as we know them today, are an American creation. Clearly, the United States has played an outsize role in the development of this underappreciated art form. 
 

12.6.1949: Doug Marlette, the creator of Kudzu, is born in Greensboro, North Carolina. His strip about rural Southerners launched in 1981 and ran for more than 25 years.

12.6.1980: Popeye, a musical comedy film based on the comic strip of the same name, hits theaters. Popeye the Sailor first appeared in E.C. Segar's Thimble Theatre in 1929.
 
12.6.2016: Michael Tisserand releases Krazy: George Herriman, a Life in Black and White, a biography of the famed creator of Krazy Kat.
 

Kudzu

  

Most of the information listed here from one day to the next comes from two online sites -- Wikipedia, and Don Markstein's Toonopedia -- as well as 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics, edited by Maurice Horn. Note that my focus is on American newspaper comic strips (and the occasional foreign strip that gained popularity in the United States). Thus, comic books and exclusively online comics are not included here.